Tennessee House Bill HB0816

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/4/25
• Refer: 2/6/25
• Refer: 3/18/25
• Refer: 3/25/25
• Refer: 4/14/25
• Refer: 4/15/25
• Engrossed: 4/16/25
• Enrolled: 4/23/25
• Passed: 5/21/25
• Chaptered: 5/27/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 50, relative to driving while privilege cancelled, suspended, or revoked.

Summary

HB0816 amends Tennessee’s driver licensing point system for the offense of operating a motor vehicle while a person’s driving privilege is cancelled, suspended, or revoked. The bill adds a new subsection to Tennessee Code Annotated § 55-50-504 providing that no more than four points may be assessed to a driver’s record for this offense. The measure does not change the underlying criminal or traffic offense itself; rather, it limits the administrative consequences on a driver’s record. By capping the points at four, the bill affects how the offense is treated by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security for purposes of driver-record management and any downstream consequences tied to accumulated points, such as licensing actions or insurance-related impacts.

Impact

The bill amends Title 55, Chapter 50 of the Tennessee Code, specifically § 55-50-504, by adding a point-cap rule for a suspended, revoked, or cancelled driving offense. It narrows the range of points that may be assigned to that violation and thereby changes how the offense is recorded and counted in the state’s driver-point system. The practical effect is on drivers with cancelled, suspended, or revoked privileges and on the agency responsible for maintaining driver records and enforcing point-based sanctions.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in committee and on the floor. It advanced through the House Transportation Subcommittee, House Transportation Committee, House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee, and House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee with unanimous or near-unanimous votes, and it passed the House floor overwhelmingly before final passage. The voting history suggests general agreement that the change was a modest administrative adjustment rather than a major policy shift.

Contention

There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record. The only notable point of potential debate is whether limiting the points to four is too lenient or too restrictive compared with existing point-assessment practices for driving on a cancelled, suspended, or revoked license. However, the recorded votes show no committee dissent and only a small number of nay votes on final consideration, indicating that any disagreement was limited and not strongly reflected in the legislative process.